Organizational Culture: The Values Of Culture On An Organization

1494 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Different dimensions that determine organisational culture

Culture is defined as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define how members of an organisation act (Barney, 1986). Although culture can be both an asset and a liability in regards to the success of an organisation, it is the nature of an organisations core values, attributes, communication skills and how an organisations culture is perceived by its stakeholders that define the influence culture has on an organisation. This will be illustrated through how strong and weak organisational cultures can act as both an asset and a liability to an organisation.

Culture has an immense impact on an organisation. Culture not only defines a business’ employees, customers, suppliers, and competitors, it also outlines how a …show more content…

This classification of business culture does not imply a type of culture is positive or negative, however depicts the influence culture has over its members. Studies have indicated that organisations with strong cultures are often indicative of excellent management (Peters & Waterman, 1982). Strong organisational cultures express clear messages about what qualities are important to a business. These shared values are beneficial to organisations as they improve communication and decrease disagreements, improving efficiency during the decision making process (Sathe, 2003). Furthermore, members of strong cultures are able to strongly identify with the culture. This is an asset to an organisation as being able to identify oneself to a culture creates a sense of belonging within employees. This improves commitment to a business which inturn improves overall business performance. It is also argued that there is a link between an organisations culture type and economic performance which can be seen through Starbucks and AIG. Flamholtz and Randle (2012), asserted that Starbucks, who are renowned for having a strong positive culture whose employees exhibit consistent messages about the firm’s priorities, experienced high levels of economic success. However, AIG’s dysfunctional corporate culture exhibiting contradictory messages in regards to the business’ main concerns, almost led the firm into bankruptcy in 2008. Thus demonstrating, how a strong organisational culture can contribute towards the success of a

Show More
Related

  • Comparison Of Northwest Airlines And American Airlines

    4751 Words  | 10 Pages

    Just as there are cultures in larger human society, there seem to be cultures within organizations. These cultures are similar to societal cultures. They are shared, communicated through symbols, and passed down from generation to generation of employees. Many definitions of organizational culture have been proposed. Most of them agree that there are several levels of culture and that these levels differ in terms of their visibility and their ability to be changed.

    Read More

  • Cultural Values And Cultural Aspects Of Culture Change At IBM

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aspects of the perceived culture in an o organization, such as, level of communication among members, the level of support in regard for new innovations and technology, as well as the amount of support by upper level management all have a positive influence on the manner employees behave and interact with each other as well as how they treat consumers and suppliers. If employees emulate a manager that does not share the same values and beliefs of others within the organization, or that does not share a good work ethic, employees will not complete tasks and fail to be productive. It works as well in the opposite manner; when employees see a manager who supports a company’s mission, its goals, and business strategy, the organizational culture of the company will aide in providing a clear direction for employees to follow and strive towards. Ultimately, the culture supports desire business strategies and the overall mission of an organization, and the capacity of the culture is dependent on just how intensely employees share the values and basic assumption of the

    Read More

  • Flight Centre's Culture And Organizational Culture

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Organizational cultural is the system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members, while organizational structure is an expression of social and economic principles of hierarchy and specialization (Kinicki, 2015). Both the culture and the structure of an organization are important things for management to understand in order to successfully set and achieve an organization’s goals. Companies who excel in highly competitive fields can attribute their successful economic performance to a cohesive corporate culture that increases competiveness and profitability. This culture is best utilized in an organization that has the necessary structure to allow its employees to coordinate their

    Read More

  • Finer Bags Essay

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Culture is a shared philosophy. Accordingly, a corporate culture is one shared within an organization. Corporate culture is instinctual, inherent, and highly immeasurable. It is an inexact science, a style of doing business comprising “beliefs, mores, customs, value systems and behavioral norms, and ways of doing business that are unique to each corporation” (Brusseau, 2012, p. 428). The author further extrapolates the philosophy as giving direction, administering advice, and recognizes the importance of its people; constantly changing, it is created, blooms, and can perish within each organization.

    Read More

  • SAS Institute Case Study: Case Analysis Of Sas Institute

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chapter sixteen in our textbook highlights the benefits of organizational culture and what it can do for any company with a strong culture perspective. In fact chapter sixteen-three(a) speaks widely on how a strong culture perspective shapes any organization up well enough to perform better than any of its competitors who do not balance any organizational culture. If not mistaken after viewing SAS institute case they are well on track with facilitating a high performance organization culture. First, SAS institute motivate all employees to become goal alignment in their field of work. This is where they all share the common goal to get their work done. In one of the excerpts taken away from this case, an employee- friendly benefits summary expresses the statement “If you treat employees as if they make a difference to the company, they will make a difference to the company.” “SAS Institute’s founders set out to create the kind of workplace where employees would enjoy spending time. And even though the workforce continues to grow year after year, it’s still the kind of place where people enjoy working.” Clearly highlighted from this statement that SAS Institute is mainly ran off of a fit perspective. Which argues that a culture is only as good as it fits the industry. Allowing a good blueprint or set up will

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Bruce Tuckman's Four Stages Of Group Development

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Culture is the practices and values shared by a group of people. Companies that have good cultures attract good people. The company culture should be one of inclusion and participation. The culture should be one that welcomes diversity and one that values the opinions of their employees.

    Read More

  • The Google Case: Aiming for an Evolutionary Advantage

    1812 Words  | 4 Pages

    Culture can be defined as “A pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore to be taught to the new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems”. Schein (1988). Organizational culture can be defined as a system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members. It includes routine behaviors, norms, dominant values, and feelings or climates. The purpose and function of this culture is to help foster internal integration, bring staff members from all levels of the organization closer together, and enhance their performance.

    Read More

  • Gander Company Culture Analysis

    55 Words  | 1 Pages

    A Companies culture can be explained as the behaviour, values, standards, ideas, meanings, attitudes and beliefs that characterize the tone that is set for the company (Gander, 2011). The culture of a company plays an imperative role on what the company expect of their employees and the tone that is set for them (Ahmad,

    Read More

  • The Application Of Culture And Culture In Woolworths

    2396 Words  | 5 Pages

    Culture is “a system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organisation and guides the behaviour of its members” (Schermerhorn et al. 2011). It plays an important role in any organisation. For instance, in Woolworths we can se...

    Read More

  • Organizational Culture

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    This essay gives a basic idea of what organizational culture is, and emphasis on the controversial issues of managing organizational cultures. As there are various definitions for organizational culture, and none of them are universally agreed. Therefore, for an easier understanding by readers, the definition of organizational culture given in this essay focusing on levels of culture, and will be discussed t together with Schein's(1983) framework. Before talking about managing organizational cultures, the types will be introduced first. Because, there are some descriptions about managing different types of organizational cultures, in the following content.

    Read More

  • Strong Culture Essay

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Culture is the shared principles and traditions that influence the ways its member perform. Culture within a business organisation can be the difference between a good and a great company, this essay will discuss both positives and negatives of a strong culture then make a final decision on each aspect. The topics that will be covered in this essay are; Consistency or Inertia?, Strong company or flexible company? Easier hiring practices or dangerous homogeneity? Employee growth or over dependency?

    Read More

  • Corporate Culture

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    Corporate culture is the shared values and meanings that members hold in common and that are practiced by an organization’s leaders. Corporate culture is a powerful force that affects individuals in very real ways. In this paper I will explain the concept of corporate culture, apply the concept towards my employer, and analyze the validity of this concept. Research As Sackmann's Iceberg model demonstrates, culture is a series of visible and invisible characteristics that influence the behavior of members of organizations. Organizational and corporate cultures are formal and informal. They can be studied by observation, by listening and interacting with people in the culture, by reading what the company says about its own culture, by understanding career path progressions, and by observing stories about the company. As R. Solomon stated, “Corporate culture is related to ethics through the values and leadership styles that the leaders practice; the company model, the rituals and symbols that organizations value, and the way organizational executives and members communicate among themselves and with stakeholders. As a culture, the corporation defines not only jobs and roles; it also sets goals and establishes what counts as success” (Solomon, 1997, p.138). Corporate values are used to define corporate culture and drive operations found in “strong” corporate cultures. Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, and Bonar Group, the engineering firm I work for, all exemplify “strong” cultures. They all have a shared philosophy, they value the importance of people, they all have heroes that symbolize the success of the company, and they celebrate rituals, which provide opportunities for caring and sharing, for developing a spiri...

    Read More

  • Theory Of Organizational Culture

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept of organizational culture is one of the most debated topics for researchers and theorists. There is no one accepted definition of culture. People even said that it is hard to define culture and even more change it. It is considered a complex part of an organization although many have believed that culture influences employee behavior and organizational effectiveness (Kilmann, Saxton, & Serpa 1985; Marcoulides & Heck, 1993; Schein, 1985a, 1990).

    Read More

  • Organizational Excellence and Leadership

    482 Words  | 1 Pages

    Organizational culture is the key to organizational excellence and leadership is a function to create and manage culture (Chen 1992). Organizational researchers have become more aware of the importance of understanding and enhancing the cultural life of the institution. "This study is one of a group of companies with high-performance in North America, interest in organizational culture is an important element in organizational success. Tesluk et al (1997). Looking at the" soft "of the organization, the researchers claim that" the organizational culture may be suitable for a means to explore and understanding of life at work, and make them more humane and more pronounced (Tesluk et al, 1997), and the graves (1986) also stressed the importance of corporate culture, and the need for research strategies and methods of investigating the various elements and processes of the organizational culture. He argued the culture that meets the basic needs of belonging and security in an attempt to describe this gathering that culture is "the only thing that distinguishes one company from another gives them coherence and self-confidence and rationalises the lives of those who work for it. Standard that may seem random, is to enhance the life to be different, and safe to be similar, and culture is a concept that provides the means to achieve this compromise (p. 157).

    Read More

  • Essay On Organisational Culture

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Organisational culture is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Many studies states that the culture is one of the key elements that benefits the performance and affects the success of the company (Kerr & Slocum 2005). This can be measured by income of the company, and market share. Also, an appropriate culture within the society can bring advantages to the company which helps to perform with the de...

    Read More

More about Organizational Culture: The Values Of Culture On An Organization

Open Document